1960 : The Beatles’ George Harrison, then just seventeen, is deported from Hamburg, Germany, where the group had been performing at the Kaiserkeller club, back to his native England. Historians typically blame the club’s owner, Bruno Koschmider, who may have tipped the authorities to George’s age; The Beatles had broken his exclusive contract by playing in other venues, then returned to their rooms in one of his other venues and set it on fire in protest of being canned.

1987 : “Mony Mony” by Billy Idol replaces “I Think We’re Alone Now” by Tiffany at #1 in the US. Both songs were originally recorded in the ’60s by Tommy James & the Shondells.

1991 : An animated Aerosmith perform Walk This Way on the “Flaming Moe” episode of The Simpsons. The band is one of the first musical guests on the show.

2000 : Backstreet Boys’ Black & Blue debuts with one of the biggest initial retail shipments ever, with about 6 million units.

1970 : The head of the FCC issues a statement in rebuttal to Vice President Spiro Agnew’s complaint that radio stations were playing too many songs about drugs. The statement reads: “If we really want to do something about drugs, let’s do something about life… The song writers are trying to help us understand our plight and deal with it. It’s about the only leadership we’re getting. They’re not really urging you to adopt a heroin distribution program, Mr. Vice President.”

1977 : An audience member throws an M-80 firecracker on stage at an Aerosmith show at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. The explosion injures lead singer Steven Tyler’s cornea and guitarist Joe Perry’s hand. The next year, Tyler is hit in the face with a bottle when they play the arena.

1979 : The film The Rose, a thinly-veiled biopic of Janis Joplin starring Bette Midler, premieres in Hollywood.

2001 : Embracing the internet at a time when broadband was rare, U2 webcasts a show from their Elevation tour in South Bend, Indiana for free on U2.com.

The legendary guitarist opens up in Rocks: My Life in and Out of Aerosmith about music, family, and putting up with Steven Tyler.

Getty Images for Songwriters Hall Of Fame Larry Busacca

Joe Perry told BuzzFeed News recently that he wrote his new autobiography, Rocks: My Life in and Out of Aerosmith, because he wanted to explore the question “How the hell did we manage to do it?” The “it,” of course, being taking the band he co-founded at age 19 with a group of Three Stooges-loving kids in Massachusetts and turning it into what is often referred to as “America’s Greatest Rock ‘N’ Roll Band.”

So how did Perry and Co. do it? Here are 10 surprising revelations from Perry’s autobiography that help answer that question — and more — in candid detail:

1. Perry plays guitar backward.

Getty Images Frank Micelotta

Perry is left-handed, but when he got his first guitar at the age of 12 it came with an instructional record for righties. Not knowing any better, Perry learned to play by listening to that record, and has played right-handed ever since.

2. In Aerosmith’s early days, lead singer Steven Tyler had sticky fingers.

Ron Pownall

Not long after the band lost an important gig because Tyler stole — of all things — a slide projector, three gun-toting thugs accused him of stealing $2,000 out of their suitcase. Tyler professed his innocence, but a band confidant later told Perry that Tyler had indeed taken the money.

3. One of the band’s biggest early hits, “Sweet Emotion,” featured lyrics by Tyler about his disdain for Perry’s then-wife, Elyssa Jerret.

Ron Pownall

Tyler believed Jerret was cutting Perry off from the band, but Perry disagrees, and writes in his book that he was playing and composing better than ever before at the time.

4. Perry quit Aerosmith in 1979 after Jerrett threw a glass of milk at the wife of bassist Tom Hamilton.

VH1

In Rocks, Perry discusses how the real source of the band’s turmoil wasn’t Perry’s wife, but the members’ refusal to sit down and discuss their problems. He wouldn’t rejoin the band until 1984.

5. In 2009, Tyler blew off a week of songwriting sessions with Perry to secretly fly to England and audition for Led Zeppelin.

Getty Images Evening Standard

Perry asked Tyler for an explanation, but was given many different answers. “One was that he was auditioning only for one show, and then there was another one that was, ‘I really didn’t want to do it anyway,’” Perry told BuzzFeed News.

“I didn’t buy any of it. My trust in him as far as that kind of thing goes is nonexistent. I’ve tried to get a straight answer from him but very often I’ll have a conversation with him and then I’ll find out two minutes later that he’s telling someone just the opposite.”

6. Aerosmith’s career was in trouble after the flop of 1985 album Done With Mirrors, but they made a major comeback with an unlikely rap-rock collaboration.

Profile/Arista Records

Producer Rick Ruben called Perry with the revolutionary idea of remaking the Aerosmith classic “Walk This Way” with Run-DMC. Perry, whose son Aaron was a rap fan, was open to the idea. The eventual collaboration became the first hip-hop song to crack Billboard’s top five and relaunched Aerosmith’s career.

7. Perry not only jammed with Kiss on stage, he got to watch backstage as they put on their iconic makeup and costumes.

AFP / Getty Images NICHOLAS KAMM

It happened during a 2003 co-headlining Aerosmith-Kiss tour, and Perry even got to wear the legendary Kiss boots.

8. Perry’s 29-year marriage to second wife Billie Montgomery is one of the longest in rock ‘n’ roll.

Getty Images Michael Loccisano

Perry admitted that staying married in rock isn’t easy. “But then making any marriage work isn’t easy. Lawyers have groupies. In fact I think it’s probably harder being in some professions because you’re away from home.”

A key to their success is Perry’s having reached a level of success where he can afford to bring his family on the road with him. “Leaving your family for weeks or months at a time can really put some distance between you emotionally,” Perry said.

9. After a show in Detroit when Kid Rock opened for Aerosmith, Rock’s then-girlfriend Pamela Anderson sat on the lap of Perry’s 14-year-old son, Tony, and fed him pizza bite by bite.

Getty Images Getty Images

Perry, who has four sons including a stepson, was a little taken aback, but didn’t have the heart the interrupt this teenage dream come true.

10. Despite everything, Perry thinks Aerosmith’s swan song is still on the horizon.

Getty Images for Songwriters Hall Of Fame Larry Busacca

“When we walk on stage there’s still that feeling that we’re going to get out there and be the best that we can for the night and give the audience what they deserve,” Perry said. “That helps me surmount a lot of these other issues, and I’ve learned how to deal with it.”

Rocks: My Life in and Out of Aerosmith is out Oct. 7 from Simon and Schuster.

1963 : While traveling in London, John Lennon and Paul McCartney encounter Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham, who worked as a promoter for The Beatles earlier in the year. Oldham invites them to The Stones rehearsal, where they complete a song they were working on, “I Wanna Be Your Man,” and give it to The Stones, which they use as their second UK single.

1988 : “Sweet Child O’ Mine” by Guns N’ Roses hits #1 for the first of two weeks. The band is opening shows for Aerosmith at the time.

1990 : Starring a young rapper named Will Smith, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air debuts on NBC. Smith hones his acting skills during his six seasons on the show, which features guest appearances by his musical partner, DJ Jazzy Jeff.

1991 : Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is released as a single, forever changing the musical meaning of the word “Alternative.”

1957– American Bandstand first aired on US TV. Dick Clark had replaced Bob Horn the previous year when the show was still called Bandstand, Clark went on to host the show until 1989. Countless acts appeared on the show over the years, including Abba, The Doors, Talking Heads, Madonna, Otis Redding, R.E.M. and Pink Floyd.

1972– Aerosmith signed to CBS Records for $125,000 after record company boss Clive Davis saw them play at Max’s Kansas City Club New York.

1975 – The first all-female hard-rock band is formed when producer Kim Fowley puts together The Runaways, featuring Joan Jett, future Bangle Michael Steele, and Lita Ford.

1984– Bruce Springsteen played the first of ten nights at the Meadowlands in New Jersey to mark the homecoming of the Born in the USA Tour.

2007- DNA tests prove that at least two of the twelve claimants to the estate and fortune of recently deceased soul legend James Brown are found to be legitimate. His will had already named six known children.

2008–Billy Joel plays the “Last Play at Shea” concert – the final show before Shea Stadium is closed down. Joel is joined on stage by Paul McCartney, Garth Brooks, Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, and The Who’s Roger Daltry.

2011– Rebecca Black, the world’s most ironic celebrity, cashes in on her worldwide viral Internet fame by launching her own record label, RB Records, and her first single on the label, “My Moment.” The song fails to get the same hipster fame her former single “Friday” did; “Friday” is reportedly still played for years to come.